Hat



Feb.z2, 1944. A, A, STRAQSS .2,342,501

lbertzrauss,

Feb. 22, 1944.

A. A'. s'rRAuss l2,342,501

HAT

Filed Jan. 30, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 'L o "MINIMUM @""uf-llflmln,MHHMH'HNP L'Ilmmmwm om @7m mm Patented Feb. 22, 1944 UNITED STATESPATENT' i OFFICE HAT Albert A. Strauss, Pittsburgh, Pa'.

Application-January. 30, 1942, Serial No. 428,952

('Cl'.-y 2i-3) 2 Claims;

Thisin'vention relates `to protective' headgearf or industriaisaf-etypurposes where there is'danger okfbeing struck by falling objects,A alsofor usein the Army. and Navy bothinpeace and war and for civilian use asak protection from the sun and falling objects.

Protective headgearmustbe constructed of material having suiiicientrigidity` to protect the wearer from injury, such as hard compactedfibrous material or vulcanized fibre and yet light enough to be .wornwithout discomfort. In order to distribute the effects of shocks orblows to which the hat may be subjected it is desirable that thehead-band should be spaced from the crown and it should also be capableof conforming to the shape of the head of the wearer.

For the purpose of attaining the above-mentioned objects, my inventionprovides resilient supporting means which suspend the head-band inspaced relation to the inner periphery of the base of the hat andyieldingly maintain it in position under the tension of opposing springforces. The opposed pairs of spring arms are arranged in substantiallyninety degree relationship so that the inner Aperimeter of the head-bandmay accurately conform to the particular configuration of the head ofthe wearer. When a sudden blow is received from the crown of the hat,all of the spring arms will yield, bulging outwardly toward the innersurface of the hat and thereby absorbing the force of the blow,distributing it over the plurality of spring arms and thus cushioningthe shock transmitted to the head-band.

The details of construction will be described in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side view in elevation ofa hat partly broken away to show the manner of supporting the head-bandaccording to my invention;

Figure 2 is a bottom plan View of the hat of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Figure 41s a plan View of the suspension springs in their normallystraight form before being forced into the crown of the hat andrestrained by attachment to the head-band.

The hat illustrated comprises a onepiece crown I of dome shape and abrim 2, of integral hard vulcanized fibre. The hat is supported on thehead oi.' the wearer by a head-band 5 having head straps 6, 1, of wideiiexible material, such as fabric, sewed or otherwise secured to theopposite sides of the head-band to form a head support or hammocklining. The overlapping inner,` laced.tog.ether atl 8 y and: providedwith a plurality of lacing holes. to allow.

ends of thelstrapsf are for adjustment to suit thehead of the wearer.

This hammoclrtype of head support prevents the= hat from being drivendown over the head, whilef being sufficiently flexible to cause nodiscomfort.

Moreover, it does not interfere with the-proper ventilation of thecrown. The head-band 5 may be formed of breand provided with a sweat-`bandy 9 ofv soft leather or other suitable flexible material. A cushionpadding III is held between tilation through the crown of the hat.

The spring suspension for the head-band co-mprises Aa plurality of flatspring bands or strips, which cross each other and are riveted togetherat their central portions. The opposite ends of each springstrip arethen curved or bowed downwardly to form an arch, the opposite ends thusforming a pair of downwardly extending arms which are secured toopposite points of the headband. I have shown two pairs of springs I2arranged at right angles and riveted together at their centralintersecting portions. It will be obvious that a larger number of pairsmay be employed if desired and that separate spring arms may be usedinstead of making a pair of arms from a single spring strip.

The spring strips are preferably of thin fiat spring material so thatthe arms of the flat spring strips radiate outwardly from the center inthe same plane as indicated in Fig. 4 and in dotted lines in Fig. 3.

To assemble the parts of the hat, the outer ends of the spring stripsare drawn downwardly and inwardly toward each other until theyare archedsufficiently to be forcibly pushed into the crown of the hat. Theresiliency of the `spring arms causes them to conform to shape of thecrown and to fit tightly against its inner surface. Each spring strip isthen securely fastened to the upper part of the crown by rivets I4. Theintersecting spring strips held tight against the inner side of thecrown constitute a strong rigid reinforcement for the top of the crownand yet without unduly adding to the weight of the hat.

The lower free ends of the spring strips are then drawn inwardly awayfrom the inner surface of the crown and the opposite ends of each stripare riveted to the head-band at diametrical- 1y opposite points I3. Theopposite free ends of each strip thereby constitute a pair of springarms continuously held under restrained tension, each arm constantlyexerting an outward pull or counter-thrust in opposition to that of theopposite arm.

Since the forces exerted in the spring arms of each pair are opposed toeach other and are therefore in balanced relation, the head-band iscontinuously maintained in centered stabilized position Within the hat.Any shocks received by a blow upon the crown or by a falling weight aretransmitted and distributed to each of those portions of the spring armsbetween the riveted connections at I4, and the head-band, causing saidportions to yield and arch or bulge outwardly thereby absorbing theenergy of the blow in bending the springs against the resistance oftheir spring action, thus eiectively cushioning the jar transmitted tothe head of the wearer through the head-band and head-straps. It will beseen that by avoiding any connection between the head-band, and thelower part of the crown, the head band is effectively isolated fromdirect jars received by the hat crown, while the comparatively longsuspension through resilient fiat strips maintained under tension,greatly minimizes the transmission of shocks from the upper part of thecrown. Furthermore the opposite effects produced in the counter-'actingsprings immediately retards any tendency to vibratory motion.

I claim:

1. In a hat of the type described, a dome-like rigid crown, a pair ofthin at resilient strips centrally crossed at right angles and securedto the inner top portion of the crown, a head-band of flexible materialcentrally positioned in the crown, said band being entirely detached andspaced from the inner perimeter at the base of the crown, the free endsof said resilient strips being arched downwardly and secured in pairs todiametrically opposite points of said band to thereby constrain saidstrips under tension and support the band independently and spaced fromthe crown.

2. In a hat of the type described, a dome-like rigid crown, a hat-bandpositioned within the crown adjacent to its base, and means for normallysupporting said band entirely separated and yieldingly spaced from theinner perimeter of the crown, comprising a pair of thin resilient stripscentrally crossed at right angles and se* cured to the inner top portionof the crown, the outer ends of each pair of said resilient strips beingheld under tension and secured to diametrically opposite points of saidband and in spaced relation to said inner perimeter.

ALBERT A. STRAUSS.

